Fantasy football team guide: Sunderland

Stephane Sessegnon is the most-selected Sunderland player among Telegraph
Fantasy Football managers so far.

Stephane Sessegnon excelled in his first full season at Sunderland and was one of the top midfielders in Telegraph Fantasy Football

By Billy Richards

8:00AM BST 23 Jul 2012

Sunderland will be looking to continue the improvement made since the arrival of manager Martin O'Neill midway through last season. He led the team to Premier League safety which had looked doubtful before his arrival and he will now set his sights on a top half finish in 2012/13.

This summer has seen the arrival of defender Carlos Cuellar (£3.0m), a player O’Neill knows well from their time together at Aston Villa. He joins a Sunderland defence that performed well last season. Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet (£3.2m) played a part in 13 of the club’s 14 clean sheets which, along with a penalty save, helped him to reach 111 Telegraph Fantasy Football points.

The star of this side last season was undoubtedly Stephane Sessegnon (£4.0m). He led the team in appearances (41), key contributions (12) and points per £M (43.4). He was also the team’s joint top scorer with eight goals and unsurprisingly their highest overall points scorer (152pts). Whilst he may not be as cheap as last season, with his ability to score as well as assist, he is still a player that offers good value.

A player less likely to prove popular with Telegraph Fantasy Football managers this season is Lee Cattermole (£3.0m). Despite making 26 starts last season, the midfielder failed to register a single goal or key contribution and he also had the worst disciplinary record at the club, with one red card and 12 yellows. This meant he produced a meagre total of 37 fantasy points.

Which Sunderland players will make it into your Telegraph Fantasy Football starting XI?